The Cheshire Lines Committee

The Cheshire Lines Committee
Then and Now
by Nigel Dyckhoff
Formed by Act of Parliament on 5 July 1865, the Cheshire Lines Committee has strong claims to being Britain's premier joint line. While its route mileage of 143 was exceeded by the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway's total of 186, the importance of the area it served made the CLC a railway of particular significance covering as it did the industrial area of South Lancashire with its main line linking the two important cities of Liverpool and Manchester.
The result of a consolidation of several independent systems, the CLC was initially run by the Great Northern, Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire (which in 1897 became the Great Central) and Midland Railways: It outlived its founders to continue a separate existence after the Grouping until it became part of BR's London Midland region in 1948.
While the CLC never had any locomotives of its own (except for Sentinel Railcars), it left a powerful and lasting stamp on the railway scene in the area as this remarkable collection of photos and memorabilia shows. Contrasting yesterday's bustle with today's (1981) reduced traffic, Nigel Dyckhoff's survey of the CLC is packed with information, photographs, line drawings and nostalgia for a fascinating part of Britain's railway heritage.
112 pages, 1981, Case bound, 7" x 9½"
Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN-10 0711014108
ISBN-13 9780711014107